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Fanboy. It's a question of personal identity. You've probably encountered fanboys on online forums. Heck, you might have been called one yourself. Wikipedia defines fanboy as "a term... used to describe [someone] who is highly devoted and biased in opinion towards a single subject or hobby within a given field." Often fanboys congregate around particular computing or gaming platforms, specific games or comics, and even certain companies and their CEOs.

But how can you know for sure whether you're a fanboy (or fangirl)? To settle that question, we asked PC World (US) staff, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers for diagnostic signs of fanboyitis, and here's what we came up with. If more than a few of these warning signs apply to you, well, then, you know.

...you spend more time (including hours asleep) in your favorite gaming universe than in the universe of actual matter (and antimatter). --Steven Gray, PC World

...you check the Wikipedia page of your favorite product every couple of hours to ensure that no unfair, unsubstantiated, and deeply hurtful comments have been added to the entry and are now just sitting there unchallenged. --Steven Gray, PC World

Fanboys in Society

You know you're a fanboy/fangirl if...

...you refuse to reply to any your friends or loved ones' e-mails until they switch to Gmail. --Ginny Mies, PC World

...you have little difficulty working the terms "Linux distribution" or "pressure-sensitive touchpad" into "normal" conversation. --Mark Sullivan, PC World

Fanboy Worldview and Philosophy

You know you're a fanboy/fangirl if...

Photograph: Courtesy of Apple

...you can quote your favorite company's "Official Press Release" the way a preacher quotes the New Testament. --Ed Albro, PC World

...you can't get over the fact that a Mac user (like me) can get a job at a publication called PC World. --Nick Mediati, PC World

...every story written by professional journalists who don't think like you are totally "teh biased", "on the take" or "in the back pocket of [Insert your least favorite company here]." --Darren Gladstone, PC World

...you feel utter contempt not only for Mac and Windows users, but for users of any Linux distribution other than your own. --Steven Gray, PC World

...you believe that the world is divided into a force for good, as embodied in Steve (Ballmer or Jobs), and a force for evil, as embodied in Steve (Jobs or Ballmer). --Steven Gray, PC World

...you can't get over the fact that they're justcomputers. --David Murphy, PC World

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